How will the draft Consumer Rights Bill protect customers buying digital content?
The draft Consumer Rights Bill aims to consolidate and simplify consumer protection law and bring it up to date with the developments in ecommerce.
Commercial lawyer Ashley Borthwick from law firm TLT says the bill introduces specific rules relating to digital content, which includes ebooks, music and film downloads, and online games.
Borthwick says: “The draft bill states that digital content would have to be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and that it complies with the description of the content communicated to the consumer. If the digital content doesn’t meet these requirements, consumers would be entitled to a repair or a replacement of the digital content.”
Under the bill, consumers would also be entitled to claim compensation if the purchased digital content causes damage to a device or other software they own.
Borthwick says: “The draft bill reflects a move forward towards clear and accessible consumer rights. Specific regulation in respect of digital content is long overdue. However, given the broad scope of digital content it is likely that further regulation will be required to cover specific issues. This new area of regulation will need to be developed and amended over time but the draft bill is a good foundation for improvement in this area.”
The bill is not expected to be implemented until 2014 but to reduce risk and long-term costs, retailers should begin to review their current policies, advises Borthwick.
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